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March 25th commemorates the Annunciation of Our Lord. This occasion proclaims the sanctity of every human life from fertilization to forever. Nine months before His birth, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became incarnate. The angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth of Galilee, and at the Word of prophecy and promise she miraculously conceived in her womb the Son of God as a microscopic embryo. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, akin to his brothers and sisters in every respect, wearing the flesh and blood we each and all share, wrapped up alongside us with human nature in the form of a servant and the likeness of men, even the very least of these, sympathizing with our every weakness, and sanctifying any genetic member of our race.
Today we celebrate with all humankind this truth, this hope, this joy, that life begins before birth, worth comes before work, and God’s love starts even in the dark. He beholds what no one else sees, that from your littlest, from your loneliest, Jesus joined you and stands where you are, your life worth saving, worth having, worth loving, worth living—with him and from him even at the outset. Fear not, for while we were still invisible, unborn Jesus rendered us indispensable, and His gestation testifies that Almighty God treasures every last human person as precious!
Birth of Jesus Foretold – Luke 1:26-38 (ESV)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.